Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Athens public-transit workers vowed
to escalate their strike action after Greece’s government said
it will invoke emergency powers to order them back to work.

The capital’s metro was shut for an eighth day today as
workers strike over changes that would align their pay structure
with that of other public employees. The strike was declared
illegal by a Greek court on Jan. 21, prompting Development
Minister Kostis Hatzidakis to promise the government will use
the emergency powers to order them back to work.

Bus, trolley and suburban rail worker unions, which have
also held stoppages in the past week, responded by calling
rolling 24-hour strikes until Tuesday, Proto Thema newspaper
reported, without saying how it got the information.

“Neither the government nor society can be held hostage by
unionists,” Hatzidakis said in comments broadcast by state-run
NET TV after a meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. The
government had no other option than to proceed with the decree
after transit workers decided “repeatedly not to respect the
absolutely clear decisions by the Greek justice system.”

Greece’s government has implemented budget cuts and
economic reforms to tame a fiscal deficit that has led to
bailouts from the European Union and the International Monetary
Fund. These measures included terminating a deal with metro
workers that had put them on a different pay scale than other
public employees.

Suspension Offer

The striking transit workers have said they will suspend
their labor action if the government lets the current agreement
run until April and begins negotiations for a new deal, Athens
News Agency reported, without saying how it got the information.

Former Prime Minister George Papandreou’s government used
emergency decrees to end strikes by seamen, truckers and garbage
collectors in 2010 and 2011.

The decision to use the emergency decree drew a mixed
response from the parties backing Samaras’s coalition
government. Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said in a speech
today that the strike is unacceptable and “adds to the
suffering of society,” while Democratic Left said in a
statement that the government’s decision was an “extreme
choice” and called for dialogue.

The Pan-Hellenic Seaman’s Union today decided to hold a 48-hour strike starting on Jan. 31 to protest government policies
affecting its members. Separately, the union expressed support
for the striking transit workers in a statement.